Our Story

This is a story of a family-run farming ecosystem committed to an ecological future.

We call ourselves ‘vidacycle’ because we are fascinated by lifecycles. Our love for the land has taught us just how important regenerative farming is for the future of people and earth.

We are based in the Loncomilla Valley (in the Maule Region), Chile, an area of spectacular beauty and tranquility– the home of vineyards, blueberry farms, dairies, apiaries, pine forests and olive groves.

From here, we are growing an ecosystem of products, tools and experiences that embody the smaller-scale farming movement. We want to share our journey as we work, listen and learn with nature:

Vidacycle Tech: We build apps that ensure independent farmers, like ourselves, have the tools to be resilient in our changing world.

Vidacycle Community: We value building connections with our local/global communities and sharing our passion for working with nature.

Vidacycle Stories: We share our ideas and observations about natural lifecycles as we learn by doing.

We hope you will see that integrity, fun and abundance are core to everything we do. You can read the full story of how we got to this point, here.

Vidacycle family:

Tom runs our farm Fundo Meza. He started his working life as a furniture maker/carpenter, has built over 15 passive solar houses, and spent 20 years running a textile design software company with his partner Christiane. In the mid 2000s he finally returned to his true passion, sustainable food and growing. Farming on a small scale has been full of ups and downs but ultimately Tom’s commitment to nurturing a healthy relationship between people and the land keeps the project full of life.

Abby, the eldest daughter is tech director for the farm. She studied physics and then art/design before spending a few months on the farm in her early twenties when she discovered a deep kinship with the land. Abby develops tools and technologies with smaller scale farmers to ensure they can continue to produce sustainably. Abby helps with farming decisions at Fundo Meza. She also makes a monthly farming podcast – Farmerama – which covers interesting farming projects in the UK. Prior to her work with farmers Abby helped to build the social innovation field through Tech for Good Global and was a user researcher for the Government Digital Service.

Joy, the youngest daughter is systems director for the farm. An experienced grower, having completed the New Farmers Programme while in Scotland, Joy is now working on a number of rooftop gardens in London. Joy is also a fully-qualified Shiatsu practitioner. Previously she made and delivered locally-sourced, organic wholesome salad boxes bringing people on the streets of Edinburgh and London healthy lunches.

Christiane runs our farm a few months of the years and is the amazing woman behind most of the beautiful aesthetic at the farm. She started her career as a graphic designer and then spent many years running a textile design software company with her partner Tom. Over the last 20 years she has organised many Art Fairs: bringing together the best artists from the community to raise money for the local hospice, and provide affordable art for all.